Sportswriters' notebook: Former Royal was a YouTube star

Former Penn State head coach and New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O?Brien speaks during a press conference where he was introduced as the new head coach of the Houston Texans NFL football team, Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in Houston. (AP Photo/Patric Schneider)

Before he played for the Reading Royals, Louie Caporusso had a brush with YouTube fame.

When he was a senior at the University of Michigan, the forward made a Valentine's Day video to help promote the hockey team.

The 56-second clip shows Caporusso playing a suave "love expert" who needs a survival kit to get through the romantic holiday.

"My friends tease me about it all the time," Caporusso said. "Any team I go to, within a couple of weeks the boys find out about it and it's brought up. It definitely follows me around a bit."

Caporusso has no lines in the video. It's him trying to catch various items, such as a box of chocolates and a stuffed animal, as someone off camera hurls them in his direction.

The clip has received more than 34,000 views and went viral when it was made in 2011. Caporusso was interviewed on ESPN's First Take about it.

"I got back home and there were 100 Facebook requests," he said. "When you're on live TV on ESPN, it'll do that. It didn't go to my head, though."

Caporusso left the Royals Monday to play in Europe. He'll have to wait and see if the love expert video translates overseas.

- Jason Guarente

One for the books

The Pennsylvania Roar's winless start has it on track to have among the worst seasons in indoor soccer history.

The Major Indoor Soccer League's current records, which date to the 2009-10 season, reveal the fewest wins by a team in a season are five (Chicago in 2010-11, Norfolk in 2011-12).

If you go back to the National Indoor Soccer League's 2008-09 season - which featured a current MISL team in the Baltimore Blast and the now-defunct Philadelphia KiXX - you'll find a team that can relate to the Roar's struggles.

The Massachusetts Twisters went 1-17 and finished the season on a 14-game losing streak, according to PA SportsTicker statistics.

The Twisters lost their season opener 34-11 to the KiXX, which set a franchise record for scoring in support of goalie Peter Pappas, who currently plays for the Roar. It would be a sign of things to come for Massachusetts, as the Twisters lost 43-0 to the Rockford Rampage later that season.

The Roar's worst loss going into its game Saturday night was a 29-0 blowout against Baltimore. Pennsylvania managed just 33 points in nine straight losses; the MISL record for most points in a game is 34 by Rockford in 2010.

Barring a second-half turnaround, Pennsylvania's season could replace Massachusetts' disastrous run in the history books.

- Ryne Gery

Sign of the time

Did a double take when I first saw the photos from Bill O'Brien's press conference Friday, introducing him as new coach of the Houston Texans.

The backdrop had the words "We are Texans".

I thought just for a moment the NFL franchise might be rubbing it in Penn State's face.

But after a little checking, I found it is the team's marketing slogan.